Many shelves that can be hung from windows, such as the shelf disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,544,203 to Watkins, are not capable of securely attaching to the window and have the potential of being easily dislodged.
Conversely, other window shelves are held in place by means of nails and screws that attach portions of the shelf directly to the window frame. These shelves may be sturdy, however, they are difficult to install, damaging to the window structure and difficult to remove from the window.
Other shelves are known in the art that hang from the window structure without the requirement of nailing or screwing the shelf into the window frames. One such shelf is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,756 to Bauer. However, this shelf utilizes a bracket that attaches to the interior casings of the window. This shelf is limiting, among other reasons, because it requires the window structure to have interior casings, and it has the potential of damaging the interior casings, thereby restricting the functionality of the window structure to house and guide the window.
The current invention discloses a shelf that is hung on a window in a secure manner, and that is not damaging to the window structure. Specifically, the invention discloses a shelf that can be hung on a window structure, whereby the shelf includes a primary tray that has a projecting member that is insertable behind the back of the window structure. The primary tray has a top side and a bottom side and the shelf further includes a horizontal member, which is located on the bottom side of said primary tray, and which is engagable with the front of the window structure. In a preferred embodiment, the horizontal member is moveable.
The horizontal member can further include a perpendicular piece, which has at least one opening. In this embodiment the shelf further includes at least one set device, which projects through the at least one opening in the perpendicular piece to engage the bottom said of said primary tray. The device affixes the horizontal piece to said primary tray and affixes the horizontal piece against said window structure. In this embodiment the bottom side of the primary tray can further include at least one threaded receptacle, wherein the at least one set device can be threaded. Also, the at least one set device can have a head that is wider than the width of the opening on said perpendicular piece, whereby the threaded set device can be threaded into the at least one threaded receptacle until the head engages the at least one opening. In addition, the at least one opening can be elongated.
The shelf of the current invention can include an upper rim on the top side of the primary tray.
In another embodiment of the invention, the horizontal piece can further include a plurality of brackets, which engage the upper rim on opposite sides of said primary tray. In this embodiment, each of the brackets further includes at least one set device, which engages the upper rim, and thereby affixing the lateral movement of the horizontal member against the window structure.
The primary tray can have a window edge that has at least one window lock indentation.
The top side and bottom side of the primary tray can further include reinforces.
The shelf of the invention can further include a cover. In one embodiment, the cover can have a dome-shaped top, and least one ventilation hole. The shelf can further include gravel, which can be placed on the top side of said primary tray, and on top of which at least one Bonsai plant can be placed.
The primary tray can also hold at least one plant. Also, the primary tray of the shelf can further hold growing medium, in which at least one plant can be located.
The shelf can also include an accessory. The accessory can be attached to a bracket, which is attachable to the upper rim of the primary tray. The accessory can be a picture frame.
The shelf can also have a second tray, which is attached to the primary tray by an attachment means. The second tray can attach to the primary tray by at least two attachment pieces. Each of the at least two attachment pieces can have a top end and a bottom end. The top end of each of the attachment pieces can have a hooking means, which hook over opposite upper rims on the primary tray. The second tray can further have a bottom rim, which projects downward from the edges of the second tray. The bottom end of each of the attachment pieces can have a hooking means, which hook under opposite bottom rims on the second tray.
The shelf can further have a bottom rim, which projects downward from the edges of the primary tray. The bottom rim can have a height that is no greater than the height of the projecting member, with the height of the bottom rim of the front edge of the primary tray being equal to the height of the projecting member, whereby when the primary tray is taken off the window structure and is placed on a horizontal surface, the primary tray is flat.
The shelf can also include a primary tray to which a projecting member is attached.